


But He Likes Parker More

by Stay_Frosty



Series: Dad!Tony Stark [4]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Child Neglect, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Howard Stark's Bad Parenting, Hurt/Comfort, Parent Tony Stark, Steve Rogers & Tony Stark Friendship, Tony Stark Angst, Tony Stark Is Not Helping, Uncle Steve Rogers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-20
Updated: 2019-02-20
Packaged: 2019-11-01 11:54:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17866775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stay_Frosty/pseuds/Stay_Frosty
Summary: Y/N had felt like she had lost her father's attention to his new intern Peter Parker, who was everything she wasn't: Smart, good at science, literally a superhero and lived up to Tony's expectations. Steve was more of a father to her than he ever was, and after months of watching her suffer he confronts Tony about his behaviour, who is horrified to discover that he is exactly like the man he hated most as a kid: his own father.





	But He Likes Parker More

**Author's Note:**

> not going to lie, this isn't fantastic and is very dialogue based but I hope you enjoy anyway

4 hours. It had been 4 hours since you were supposed to leave for school and your dad was still yet to notice the fact that you were sat in the living room playing video games and blasting Metallica from your speakers. He was home. Even though you hadn't seen him all morning, not even for him to wish you a good day or to say goodbye, you knew he was in the tower because you could hear him in the lab with Peter, who had called in sick from school so he could work on a project with your dad. You huffed, an odd pool of jealously spiralling in your stomach. It wasn't fair. It was like he had completely forgotten that he even had a daughter because he was so bothered about the boy he treated like a son.

 

"Y/N?"

 

You turned to see Steve in the door way, an eyebrow raised at the fact you were still in your pyjamas and on your Xbox at 12pm.

 

"Hey Uncle Steve" you greeted. Your voice sounded quite chipper, unlike your mood.

 

"Hey Kid, shouldn't you be in school?"

 

You groaned, pausing your game. Yes, at 15 years old you were still huffing when an adult said something sensible that you disapproved of.

"didn't feel like it" you replied, sadness lacing your voice. "plus if Peter gets to bunk off and stay in the tower all day then why can't i?"

 

He shook his head and let a slight chuckle escape his lips as he strolled over to the sofa you sat on. He took a seat next to you and made himself comfortable. "you know your dad is going to be really annoyed" Steve pointed out a matter of factly. Laughing sarcastically, you turned to face him properly.

 

"bold of you to assume he'll even notice that I'm not there. I've been here all morning in plain sight and he is still none the wiser. Maybe if he'd drove me to school like a normal dad i wouldn't have chance to bunk off"

 

Steve could tell how pissed off you were and pulled you into a hug, rubbing small circles on your back and sighing. He wanted to argue, but honestly he saw your point and to an extent agreed with you. Maybe not the skipping school part, but the fact that Tony barley paid any attention to you since Peter came along. "i swear you give me more affection than he does"

 

He pulled away from the hug and held you gently at arms length, looking into your eyes with his own sad, sympathetic ones. "he loves you Y/N"

 

"maybe, but regardless _likes_ Parker more"

 

Were you being dramatic? Maybe. But you couldn't care less. In your head you were being perfectly reasonable.

 

"you should talk to him about this" Steve suggested, releasing your arms. You groaned.

"I've tried. More than once. He always tells me that he's too busy and that whatever it is can wait"

 

Captain Rogers looked angry, but seemed to remain calm. It annoyed him how much the girl he saw as family was hurting, and that the only person who could fix it was blissfully ignorant to the fact that she was upset.

 

_yeah. Okay. Yes I'll talk to her. Uh huh. Right. Yeah I'll send her in as soon as I can. Thanks for letting me know. Bye_

 

You sighed and mentally debated whether you would have time to run and hide from your father, who sounded more than pissed off on the phone. However, before you could even stand up he appeared at the door. He looked absolutely furious.

 

"dear daughter of mine" he began

 

"oh good. You _are_ aware of my existence after all. I was starting to think otherwise" you interrupted, sarcasm leaking from your words.

 

"don't play smart with me young lady" he snapped. You rolled your eyes. "can you please explain to me why I've just had a phone call from your teacher complaining about the 'father-daughter trip to the beach' I've apparently pulled you out of school for?"

 

Smirking, you shrugged. "what is it? Not a fan of the beach? Neither am I to be honest, but i had no idea what a father daughter trip actually looked like so i had to use my imagination. If it makes you feel any better, next time _you_ can choose the place we _don't_ go"

 

Before he could reply, you stood up off the sofa and stormed away, accidently nudging Steve who was still sat beside you, probably wishing he was still frozen at this point.

 

Tony looked defeated and sighed, then glared at Steve. "Why didn't you tell me she was still here?"

 

He sighed and began explaining himself. "I've only been here a few minutes. I'm surprised you eventually noticed she hadn't left" he snapped

 

A look of guilt spread across Tony's features, but was soon replaced by anger. "excuse me?"

 

"have you even spoken to her today before now? She seemed pretty upset, have you even noticed that? For days she's been slumping around and looking depressed. Have you even asked her why? Or were you too busy for that? Do you know what she said to me earlier? She thinks that you like Peter more than her. She sounded so distraught and i wanted to tell her that wasn't the case. That she was wrong. But i couldn't because I could see exactly what she means". Steve continued ranting at your father, who stood completely speechless. He wanted to argue, to defend himself but for once he realised he was in the wrong. "remember how you felt as a child? When Howard talked endlessly about me?"

 

"oh god" Tony was as white as a sheet. He ran a hand over his forehead and sat down. "I've done the exact same thing to her haven't I?"

 

Rogers nodded.

 

Tony thought he was going to vomit. He had become the man he had spent his whole life resenting. Pushed his own daughter away, just like his dad and done to him. Spent all of him energy on someone else, just like he did. "Fuck. I'm gonna go talk to her. Try and fix this"

 

There was a light knock on your door, which you ignored. Whether it was Steve or your dad, you weren't in the mood. You had spent the last few months dealing with everything on your own and you were more than willing to continue that no matter how much it hurt. Regardless, your dad entered your room and stood sheepishly at your door. "can we talk?"

 

All you had wanted for the last god knows how long had just been offered to you, but right now you felt reluctant to accept it. "you actually want to talk? What happened- Parker lose his tongue?"

 

"I'm sorry"

 

You sighed, letting all of your defences drop. Those were the words you had wanted to hear from him for weeks now, so the least you could do was hear him out. You didn't have the energy to fight with him anymore. And honestly? You craved attention from your father so now that you were finally getting it you were so scared to lose it. "yeah. I am too"

 

Tony physically winced as he heard the crack in your voice as you spoke. As much as he wanted to deny it, he had hurt the person he cared about more than anything else in the world. Because of him, his precious little girl felt alone and unloved, in someone else's shadow like he always had and he just prayed that she would forgive him.

 

"Cap talked sense into me" he began. "i didn't realise until now how much I was hurting you"

 

Tears built in your eyes and threatened to fall, yet you managed to keep them at bay. "please say something"

 

"don't get me wrong. I love being a Stark, i wouldn't ever change it. But it isn't easy; there's a lot to live up to"

 

That feeling was all too familiar to him. The fear of not being enough, the worry of disappointing his father.

 

"I feel like Peter lives up to your expectations a lot more than I do. I've tried to change, to be better at science and maths but no matter what i do I can't get it right. I Can't be what you want me to be: what Peter actually is. It's like he has so much more in common with you; he's a superhero for starters. But me? I like music and literature, not physics and algebra. I can't save the world, i can't invent anything or fix something. The shit I'm actually good at makes so little difference to people's lives and I can't make you proud like he can"

 

Tony could feel his heart physically break in two. He had failed as a father, become all of the things he swore he would never. Everything he hated about his father he had come and he despised himself for it.

 

"baby" he whispered, pulling you into his arms. "I'm truly so sorry. I swore I would be a better father than my own and it turns out i'm exactly like him. Please let me make it up to you"

 

"what happened with your dad?" you asked. You knew your grandfather was a sensitive subject to him but you were curious and if you were honest, you believed you were owed an explanation. It seemed your dad agreed.

 

"he put too much pressure on me to be like him. When i wasn't, he never seemed proud of me. I tried hard to impress him and i never could. But captain perfect downstairs? He was exactly what my dad wanted in a son and would never stop talking about him. It broke my heart, i was so insecure because of it and i was so oblivious to the fact that I've done the exact same thing to you"  

 

You curled into your father more and lay your head on his shoulder. "i know you didn't mean to" you whispered. You could never hate your father, no matter how angry you were at him. You knew that he had a good heart and tried his best, even if his priorities got mixed up sometimes

 

"one thing he never said was that he was proud. I think that was the worst thing. So i want you to know that I am _so_ so proud of you baby. I don't care that you don't like science, i couldn't give a damn whether you want to be an engineer. I know how talented you are. I've read what you write, I've heard you sing and play. it's incredible You are so wonderfully creative and i am so sorry it took me until now for me to tell you all of this"

 

"that's okay dad. I love you"

 

"i love you too, bug"


End file.
